Camping World: We won’t take down our flag; NC City files lawsuit

Under fire for flying a larger-than-allowed U.S. flag over a Camping World dealership in Statesville, N.C., company president Marcus Lemonis said flying big flags is a family tradition that started in South Florida.

“My family has been car dealers, had been car dealers since the 1960s, and our key trademark was always flying our flag in our dealership in South Florida,” he said in a story posted on the website of Charlotte, N.C., television station WSOC-TV.

This is about more than just the flag. This is about our Veterans, Military, and the men and women that have sacrificed for this great country. They are the reason we fly the flag and they are the reason we will NOT take it down!

The flag isn’t coming down. It’s the only thing I know for certain. I know I’m going to die. I know I’m going to pay taxes. And I know I’m not taking the flag down, Lemonis said.

The Statesville dealership, one of more than 100 owned by the Lincolnshire, Ill.-based seller of RVs and RV supplies, has been battling the city since 2015 over the size of its flag, which it says flies in tribute to the nation’s veterans, the station reported.

A lawsuit by the city against Camping World says a flag within 100 feet of a highway cannot be larger than 25 feet by 40 feet. The city tried to compromise last year by allowing the dealer to fly a larger flag than allowed, but Camping World chose to fly its 40-by-80 foot flag anyway, the story said.

The company is now being fined $50 a day retroactive to Oct. 15 for the flag, but Lemonis told the station he would continue to defy the city even if it goes to $500 a day. “It’s not coming down,” he said.

Lemonis, who has risen to fame over the past decade not only as the CEO of Camping World but also as the star of CNBC reality shows “The Profit” and “The Partner,” was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and was adopted during his infancy by a Miami couple. His grandfather, Anthony Abraham, owned large Chevrolet dealerships in Miami and Tampa until they were purchased by AutoNation in the late 1980s.

Remember this next time they go after the Confederate Flag for being “offensive”. The Commie Libs hate the American Flag too.

You can’t agree with Libs on the little things or they will still be there being stupid on the big things. They must be opposed at every step. Never give them an inch of ground for any reason. Every thought, every action, every word they say is one more step closer to making us the next Soviet Union or the next Venezuela.

Give me a list of 5 ideas the Left has that are superior to conservative ideas. Anything? No, they have nothing. Every last one of their ideas are bad. They are wholly bereft of good ideas, good results, and good intentions. it’s all bad.

Never assume that anything they do makes even the tiniest amount of common sense, even if it seems harmless like going after the Confederate Flag. We can see what they really want.

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quietguy

9:41 am May 24, 2019 at 9:41 am

The city does not HATE THE FLAG. If you read carefully, you’ll see they even were going to allow him to fly a larger-than-legal flag, just not the huge one he insists on. I feel you’re a bit off base on this one

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Jota_

1:32 pm May 24, 2019 at 1:32 pm

“The city does not HATE THE FLAG.”

Okay, then what is the specific reason for an ordinance to limit why he cannot fly it?

An axiom of law, the law exist for a reason, when the reason does not exist neither can the law

This is the big fallacy which has permeated through this country for years and has been accepted without question, that a government body can make laws for any reason they want.

It is in complete contradiction to the Constitution which LIMITS the areas where they can give as a reason, they said so.

What is the compelling reason the city cites as to this ordinance that serves the public more than it harms them?

Good Sir I,as a veteran, salute you for your stand. Just the fact that someone in this country has decided to degrade OUR FLAG is treason AND TOTAL BOVINE RESIDUE.
those PERSONS SHOULD BE THROWN OUT OF AMERICA ASAP BY ANY MEANS AVAILABLE

I too am a veteran, but our Flag is not just the Flag of veterans and servicemembers. It’s the Flag of all Americans. Every red-blooded American should have a sincere reverence for the Flag. It is the symbol of our Constitution – something that not only the armed forces have to fight to defend. Obviously.

Back in my day, school kids were taught to pledge allegiance to the Flag, every single day. Not some days. Not every other day. Not every day but Woke Day. No sir, every single day as the first order of business.

Whoever is in charge of the committee to remove the Flag should be removed from our country. We have no use for anyone in this country who hates the Flag so much as to consider it an “eyesore” or a violation of some county ordinance.

How dare they?

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ltuser

3:31 pm May 24, 2019 at 3:31 pm

AND IMO Unless there’s a law hidden in the US Federal flag code, prohibiting that big of a flag being flown. NO TOWN should be allowed to enact their OWN law against it.

The city has an arbitrary size limit. The Profit–Lemonis needs to fight this one to the state Supreme Court and beyond, if necessary. Too much interference in local business by city councils, mayors, and bureaucracies that throw their weight around.

Municipalities (cities) are an unnecessary level of government. It is more than enough to bear up under the insane bureaucracies of the federal, state, and county governments. Cities provide zero “benefits” not available from (first) private companies or (second) other government entities; unless one more line on your property tax bill is a “benefit.”
What a property owner does on his/her own property with his/her own property is no one else’s business, period. This is a fundamental function of property ownership.

Also, this city ordinance is a violation of the owner’s First Amendment rights.

A law SHOULD have some kind of reason for it, usually public safety …. it’s right at the end of an airport runway, etc. So, Statesville, what practical purpose does it serve to not allow a large flag within 100 ft of a highway, hmmm? Could it be some city council person owns a condo nearby and it’s blocking his precious view?

The law has a restriction on how large of a flag you can fly within 100 feet of a highway. I’m not a traffic engineer, but it sounds like it’s a safety issue of some sort. The city even tried to meet him halfway by allowing a larger than legal flag, but he insisted on one even larger. I love the flag, got one on my house, but how about OBEY THE LAWS?

It appears he has a large property and tons of $$$. Why not just move the flag pole to a position that is more than 100′ from the highway? Problem solved.

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